Re:Why nature prefers hexagons
by jacquesm on Sunday August 06, 2017 @11:19AM
(#14941639)
Three phase power is a way to evenly supply current to a motor while still using AC.
It's not 'more efficient' as much as it is giving you a more even torque because the current through the motor doesn't drop to 0 10's of times per second, as it would with single phase. A nice side effect is that your motor (or alternator) can be a lot smaller for the same amount of power, a single phase motor would have to produce that power with the motor being at it's peak only once per cycle rather than all the time.
It's not 'more efficient' as much as it is giving you a more even torque because the current through the motor doesn't drop to 0 10's of times per second, as it would with single phase. A nice side effect is that your motor (or alternator) can be a lot smaller for the same amount of power, a single phase motor would have to produce that power with the motor being at it's peak only once per cycle rather than all the time.